Cub scouts learn about police

Most people will never learn two languages in their lifetime, but the cub scouts found out last Tuesday that Max Flo Jo, Deputy James Balenger’s canine companion knows two: English and Spanish.

Reserve Deputy Ernie Ornelas, Balenger and Max visited the cub scouts last week to talk to the boys, ranging from eight to ten years old, about Max’s role in the department, the department and being a police officer in general.   

Balenger started the evening off by showing the kids some of Max’s things including his seven-pound bullet proof vest.

“When we go out to find the bad guy, we don’t know whether he’s armed or not,” Balenger explained. “Just like I wear my own bullet proof vest for protection so does Max.”

Balenger explained that although Max is small, 77 pounds, he is very quick and agile. Max will be three-years-old on October 2, or 21 in people years as Balenger figured out after a cub scout pointed out to him that in people years he’s a much older dog.

The cub scouts were curious about Max and where he lived and Balenger explained that Max lives with him and his wife. Balenger said that Max is quite a character sometimes.

“He’s a fantastic dog,” Balenger said. “He’s pretty cool.”

Aside from talking about Max’s personality, Balenger also shared with the cub scouts the role that Max plays in the department. Max is trained to seek out narcotics and he also serves to protect Balenger when they are working together. Max is also trained to chase down criminals who may be escaping.

“He’s trained to find a lot of different narcotics,” Balenger said. “But when he finds them, he has no idea what they are. He just knows the smell.”

When Max finds the drugs, he does a scratch signal to let officers know that there is something.  The cub scouts were curious to know how far Max can smell.

“Quite a ways,” Balenger answered. “If you’re 500 yards away, he can still smell you. He’ll lift his nose into the air and sniff the air. If you cut an onion in half and smell it close up to your nose, that’s how strong the smell is for him at 500 yards away.”

The kids got to see a demonstration of Max finding some drugs as well as Max executing the bite-and-hold with Tony Lapinski acting as the escaped criminal. Lapinski told the kids that Max hits “like a bullet.”

“You have 70 pounds of dog coming at you on full blast,” Lapinski said, who wore a bite sleeve to protect himself.

Max grabbed on initially and Balenger explained that when Lapinski tried to move and pull free, Max sank his full bite in preventing any escape. He said that the individual who is being bitten has anywhere from three pounds per square inch (psi) to 600 psi of pressure.

“The first thing a person does is try to yank away and when that happens Max sink his bite in,” Balenger said.

The most important thing about Max is that he’s not a dog that people can come up and pet, which is why warning stickers are placed around the car and why Balenger asks people to stay within three feet of him.

Ornelas explained that like a deputy has a partner to protect him, Max is Balenger’s partner. Ornelas also took the time to talk to the kids about the department and police officers.

“Don’t be afraid of police officers,” Ornelas said. “Our job is to help, but sometimes it doesn’t come across that way. But if you’ve done nothing wrong, there’s no reason to be afraid of us.”

Ornelas also explained that the community helps them to do their job by letting them know if anything is amiss in the community. Ornelas encouraged the youngsters that if they see anything wrong to alert their parents.

Cindy Carty, who is the cub scouts’ leader, said that one of the requirements in the book has to do with the boys learning about law enforcement.

“It’s about them learning what law enforcement is and also understanding what it’s about,” Carty said. “They boys have been excited for several weeks about the two deputies coming down.”

Cub scouts, Carty explained, is about “teaching the boys how to be good citizens in their own communities.” She said the boys work to earn different badges and are also exposed to a number of activities to allow them to explore the world around them.

Carty said that they have about eight boys currently, but noted that anyone is welcome to join the pack. She said that it’s a great way for the boys to mingle and hangout with others and to be engaged with different activities that may interest them later in life.